The NHS will receive £248 million over the next year to invest in
technology that will deliver more diagnostic tests, checks and
scans to help provide faster diagnosis of a health condition,
earlier treatment and reduce waiting lists.
The investment will reduce the administrative burden on NHS staff
so they can analyse more tests, checks and scans while also
reducing the turnaround time from a patient taking a test to
receiving a diagnosis and then starting treatment.
Diagnostics services across the NHS will be digitalised using the
latest technology to improve the way tests, images and results
can be shared across computer systems in hospitals, labs and GP
surgeries. It means the nurses, doctors and other
clinicians caring for a patient can access these results more
quickly and easily, even if they are working from different
settings.
The new technology will allow imaging specialists - the experts
analysing a scan or x-ray and providing a diagnosis - to review
high-res images remotely without needing to be in an imaging lab,
24 hours a day.
The funding will also provide a new tool to help GPs and other
clinicians choose the most suitable scan for their patient based
on the patient’s symptoms and medical history. This will cut
inappropriate requests made to radiology departments, saving
radiologists’ time and ensuring patients get the right scans at
the right time.
It follows the recommendations from Professor Sir Mike Richards’
independent review of NHS diagnostics capacity showing improving
digitisation should be prioritised to drive efficiency and
deliver seamless care.
Health and Social Care Secretary said:
“Today’s multi-million pound investment will play a big role in
levelling up diagnostics services across the country so patients
can get faster results and healthcare professionals can get their
job done more easily, reducing unnecessary administrative burden
and making every taxpayer’s pound count.
“Getting a faster diagnosis for a health condition is the first
step to getting more people the treatment they need and earlier
on, and our funding will help ensure our NHS has access to the
latest digital technology to drive up efficiency.”
Professor Stephen Powis, NHS medical director,
said:
“The NHS is facing a winter like no other with rising cases of
covid and flu as well as record demand for emergency services,
all while we continue to deliver the biggest vaccination
programme in health service history, including rolling out
booster jabs for the most vulnerable.
“However, NHS staff are making efficient use of additional
funding and following the recent rollout of new diagnostic
centres, the number of patients waiting for a diagnostic test is
falling for the first time in a year, meaning more people are
getting the checks they need and if required, are able to begin
treatment sooner.”
Diagnostic tests are used to confirm or rule out health
conditions and disease and over 1.5 billion diagnostic tests are
carried out in England every year. They are crucial to
providing early diagnosis, screening and monitoring of
long-term conditions and are often the first step to
understanding the right care and treatment for a patient.
Recovering diagnostics services is vital to recovering the
overall NHS backlog and reducing waiting times for cancer
services and other treatments.
Today’s announcement follows the £2.3 billion investment
announced at the latest Spending Review over the next three years
to transform diagnostic services with at least 100 community
diagnostic centres across England – helping millions of patients
access earlier diagnostic tests closer to home.
GPs can refer patients to these new one-stop-shops for patients
to access life-saving checks, scans and tests more quickly,
leading to faster diagnosis and treatment. The centres will be
staffed by a multi-disciplinary team of staff including nurses
and radiographers and are open seven days a week.
The government has provided record funding this year, and will
continue to do so over the next three years through the health
and care levy.
To go further faster and increase efficiency government has set
out its ambition for the NHS to find innovate ways of working
which make every taxpayer’s penny count through new technology
which speeds up diagnosis, or surgical robots to help deliver
more complex surgery with faster recovery times.
Notes to editors:
Today’s funding comes from funding agreed at the 2020 Spending
Review.
The £248m will be available immediately for this financial
year (2021/22) and is broken down into:
- £100 million for the Diagnostic Imaging Programme to enable
remote reporting, image sharing and a clinical decision tool;
- £108 million to enable staff to share images across different
networks; and
- £40 million for the Digital Pathology Programme to digitalise
pathology services.
